As a cricket addict I often expect Australians to play unfairly and resort to certain degree of unsporting behavior, ranging from sledging to racial abuse, in order to demoralize the opponent. However what happened in Cape Town on 24th March during ongoing Australia – South Africa Test series was shockingly unexpected even from an Australian scale of measurement. A captain trusted with carrying the ship conspired its sinking. A cricketer hailed as second to Bradman formed a leadership group to cheat. This Australian captain has descended to a new low.
If earlier instances including one when he was caught consulting dressing room before taking DRS were examples of brain fade, this surely was a crafted conspiracy meant to gain victory ‘at any cost’. What surprises me even more is that he thought the bowler will skip frog’s view of dozens of cameras that for millions of viewers capture every moment of the game including the one when sand tape is hidden under the trousers.
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One needs to be completely insane or on a strong weed to expect he will carry out planned cheating and walk away like a saint without being caught in this technologically encompassed world. The minute details of the happenings in the third day of this cricket test will come up as the enquiry widens and all involved players are identified, but for the time being the game of cricket has been hit and its countless followers particularly those from Australia feel let down and rightly so.
Sports person are idealized, given celebrity status and showered with love by the admirers of the game. However they should equally be ready to digest the harsh pill of public outrage when they turn cheaters. In a world where sport unifies people and gives them a sense of pride cheating that too at global stage deserves to be given exemplary punishment.
So far Cricket Australia has been quick as the culprits have been stripped of leadership and their IPL franchises have also taken a similar step. With investigation underway there is possibility that involved cricketers could face a ban for a long time which could be a good step to make sure that cricket remains free of tainted players. International Cricket Council has a higher responsibility. Dose of punishment should be pronounced without looking at the race and country of the guilty.
The game as usually will go on and the tainted cricketers might return to the ground after serving their dose of punishment but the love and respect of their countless followers they have lost cannot be regained. And some new comers to the game might find new methods of mischief but any cricketer anywhere in world will think thousand times before hiding a piece of sand paper under his trousers.
- Author is a Ph.D. Scholar who lives at Pinglena Pulwama and can be reached at zahidrazaqadri@gmail.com
